Hwange

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Hwange's Community News

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Thanks to the generous support of donors, we’re making great progress toward the well-being of children and their families. These are a few of the areas we focused on in the past year:

The Hwange community is located in western Zimbabwe. About 15,000 people live in this rural community, that lies adjacent to the Zambezi Valley. Families live in simple, grass-thatched dwellings made from wood and mud bricks. Hwange has a hot, dry climate with temperatures that can reach 40℃ .

Most families try to make a living by farming, but low rainfall, sandy soil, and rocky terrain make it difficult to grow crops. Although there are rivers that could be tapped for irrigation, they are not fully utilized. Zimbabwe's largest coal mine is located in Hwange, but its use has fallen to 50% of capacity, leading to high job losses. Despite all these challenges, the region remains peaceful. It is governed under a combination of traditional and modern systems. Typically, neighbourhood heads report to headmen, who report to a chief.

Child Protection

5 cases of child abuse were reported through community services, helping more girls and boys affected by abuse get the support they need.

13 community leaders learned how to support parents in raising children holistically, helping leaders address attitudes and actions that harm children.

7 parents learned how to nurture their children holistically, creating families where girls and boys can grow physically, emotionally and socially.

Education

651 preschool-aged girls and boys are enrolled in early education, so they can be better prepared to enter primary school.

3 community spaces were updated through painting, cleaning, equipment, and materials.

2 community awareness-raising sessions conducted.

Faith

5268 children participated in spiritually nurturing activities.

20 boys and girls took part in faith-based activities, deepening their understanding of God's love for them, others and nature.

6 faith leaders are now able to run parenting workshops, helping more parents to build positive, supportive and loving family relationships.

6 workshops taught faith leaders how to address issues like HIV and AIDS, gender equality, health or child safety, engaging them to improve the community.

Advocacy

2553 men and women learned how to advocate for the needs of children, helping to improve community services related to health, hygiene and education.

Livelihood

24 adults and youth attended vocational or technical training to learn new skills, increasing their employment potential and business understanding.

Health and Nutrition

103 volunteers who are actively engaged in an HIV and AIDS team

* Results achieved from October 2018 to September 2019

Explore Hwange

current conditions

To protect the privacy of children, this map shows only the general area of the community, not the exact location.

The needs in Hwange

Education
Hwange has only eight primary schools and four secondary schools in the entire area. These schools are poorly equipped and lack desks, lab equipment, and books. Often, up to 10 children must share a single textbook. Qualified teachers tend to avoid coming to Hwange because of the harsh climate, the prevalence of diseases like malaria, and the lack of teacher accommodations.

Most children must walk an average of 15 kilometres to get to school and back again, and school enrolment is low as a result. On top of this, many children drop out by the time they get to high school due to early marriage for girls or family poverty that makes it hard to pay school fees. Academic pass rates in the district are very low.

Food
Land shortages and limited knowledge of effective farming methods negatively impact farmers yields in Hwange. Many suffer the loss of crops to wild animals like elephants, and pests and diseases attack livestock. For 20 years, this district has experienced droughts that have led to widespread hunger.

Over the past few years, there has also been a massive loss of livestock due to diseases, including anthrax and foot-and-mouth disease. Farmers have been left without animals to use for labour, income, or food, and so productivity has fallen and families have grown hungrier.

HIV & AIDS
The adult HIV prevalence rate in Hwange is 18%, which is higher than the national rate. HIV is spreading because people do not have accurate information about the disease and how to prevent it. Poverty and unemployment are leading community members to engage in risky behaviours, including drug abuse, which increases the spread of HIV. The number of orphaned children has steadily increased, and this places an extra burden on the households that take these children in.

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